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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27297850">Duty of Care</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/firelord65/pseuds/firelord65'>firelord65</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fecky's Whumptober Oneshots [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek: Discovery</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Away Missions, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Season/Series 01, Serious Injuries, Slight pining, Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:53:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,534</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27297850</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/firelord65/pseuds/firelord65</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>On an away mission, it's the Security Chief's job to keep everyone safe.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fecky's Whumptober Oneshots [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950469</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Duty of Care</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Whumptober Day 29: I Think I Need a Doctor - <strike>Intubation | Emergency Room </strike>| Reluctant Bedrest + Alt Prompt Shot</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time that Ash had to run an away mission with Michael Burnham, the captain had issued strict orders to come back with Michael intact or not come back at all. It had been a strange sort of moment - ignoring the fact that he had first thought that the captain meant the shuttle pod - until Ash realized the sort of person that Michael was.</p>
<p>By all accounts, she should have been loathed by everyone on the ship including himself. And yet her dedication, her selflessness, and her brilliant mind were too bright to allow her mistakes to fully dampen anyone's opinion of her. Ash had struggled at first to understand it, falling back on decorum and trust in the captain's orders. The longer that he spent with Michael however he realized just what kind of person she was - and who she wasn't.</p>
<p>She wasn't a killer. Her hand to hand combat was impressive, yes, but she was reserved in the final moments of a fight. She hesitated when it wasn't life or death, hanging back on making the same calls that came naturally to Ash.</p>
<p>When he heard the full details about what happened between herself, Captain Georgiou, and the Klingons it all clicked into place. Among all that sure headed determination was deep seated regret. Ash took it upon himself - quietly within the confines of his own thoughts at first - to ensure that any hesitation would not be her end. Regardless of her original actions at the Battle of the Binary Stars, Starfleet's first mutineer was not done doing what she could to mitigate them.</p>
<p>Someone needed to watch out for Michael and that task fell neatly into the hands of the ship's Chief of Security. Keeping Michael alive - among many others on the ship as well - was integral to Discovery's mission. If that wasn't true, the captain wouldn't have said so originally.</p>
<p>A brief detour in the shuttle pod again saw Ash escorting Michael, Lieutenant Commander Stamets, and Ensign Tilly to retrieve some mission critical fauna. A year ago Ash would have rolled his eyes at the concept that some mushroom caps stuffed into sample jars could make the difference between life and death. Now however he let them do whatever it was they had to and did <em>his</em> job to monitor the terrain around them.</p>
<p>The planet's moon wasn't empty with several life signs identified even before they had launched. That was why Ash had brought his phaser rifle rather than just his pistol at his hip. When the proximity meter on Michael's belt started to beep, Ash directed them to hurry up back to the shuttle pod. Stamets complained initially, apparently not having secured as many samples as he had wanted, but Michael backed Ash with that usual logical cool that had won over so many of the crew.</p>
<p>Ash took the back position, his head on a swivel as Michael took point. Between them Tilly and Stamets carried the cases of samples. Ash nudged them to pick up the pace, earning yet another round of bitter sarcasm from the lieutenant commander. He did step quicker though, so Ash considered that a win.</p>
<p>Inches from his ear, the bark of the tree Ash was passing by exploded into organic shrapnel. Tilly screamed and bolted after Michael. Ash dropped down and turned on a dime to squeeze off a barrage of cover fire in the direction of the shot. He couldn't see anything through the deep blue tree trunks and ground cover.</p>
<p>"Go, go, go!" he shouted over his shoulder. Stamets had already burst into a jog behind Tilly, his case of samples held aloft over his head. Ash ducked behind a fallen log to regroup mentally. Michael slid next to him, her phaser ready to go.</p>
<p>"Only one beam weapon so far," she observed as a few scattered shots scorched above them.</p>
<p>Ash waited for them to abate before sticking his head briefly out above the tree trunk. "What are you doing here? I said go!" he said roughly.</p>
<p>Michael joined him, her forearm resting on the trunk for stability as she fired off her own returning shots. "There's more than likely just a single assailant," she said cooly. "You're better off with help."</p>
<p>"And you're better off inside the shuttle pod. I gave an order," Ash insisted. He grabbed her shoulder and forced her back down behind the trunk as yet another barrage of shots exploded against the fallen tree. A few went overhead, thankfully not close enough to where Stamets and Tilly had gone where Ash was <em>too</em> worried.</p>
<p>"I can help," Michael insisted. Her brown eyes were bright with that fire that Ash was growing far too fond of.</p>
<p>He shook his head and pushed again on her shoulder. "Go!" he roared. "I'll cover you and then we're getting off this rock." He didn't watch her go, pivoting again and pushing back to his feet. He moved in the opposite direction, his phaser rifle at the ready. By now he was fairly certain there was only one shooter and they were definitely going to be more interested in taking him down than Michael.</p>
<p>They exchanged a few more blind fire shots, each getting close but never landing a direct hit, until Ash caught sight of grey fabric whipping around the base of a far-off tree. They had driven one another further down the path that the landing party had originally traversed. Their assailant seemed to have ran farther than Ash had, putting the distance between them to be roughly the size of the shuttle bay by his best guess.</p>
<p>"We're leaving!" Ash shouted. "No need to keep firing!" It was a longshot that this would actually help, but hey, it couldn't hurt. He shouldered his rifle and ducked through the underbrush. Branches tugged at his uniform. He tumbled into open air again as the path twisted back again, allowing Ash to turn to a full sprint.</p>
<p>When the shuttle pod was in full view, relief spread throughout Ash's body. All three figures were there, the back door open and all their crates stowed. Michael dropped to one knee while Tilly ducked against the skinny doorframe.</p>
<p>Ash felt the beam first on his back, then his leg. Heat wiped out every other sense before fading into white hot pain. It felt like the moment lasted forever but he hadn't even hit the ground yet. By the time he was coughing up dirt and leaf litter, Michael had fired off three shots of her own.</p>
<p>Stamets grabbed him under the arms, hauling Ash gracelessly into the rear of the shuttle. There was an awful lot of shouting which only got worse when the door slammed behind them. Michael paused briefly to hover over Ash before she started towards the controls.</p>
<p>Ash pushed himself up on one arm. "I'm the pilot," he wheezed.</p>
<p>Next to him, Tilly and Stamets exchanged a <em>look</em>. "It'll be fine," Michael insisted. Her facade was in place, but her voice shook as she took the pilot's seat. "You focus on resting."</p>
<p>Tilly pulled out the first aid bag and started to dig through it. "I don't think he's going to bleed out or anything," she babbled, "but I'm not a doctor and I'm really, really not good at field med."</p>
<p>The motion of the shuttle surging to life knocked Ash back to the ground. A fresh wave of pain surged over him, erasing all sight and sound for another eternity. When he blinked through the whiteness he tasted blood.</p>
<p>Dully, he heard Stamets talking Tilly through what to look for while he adjusted Ash to lay on his side. Regardless, Ash's attention remained focused on the back of Michael's head. "There's eddies. Subspace pockets between here and Discovery," Ash insisted weakly. "I can get us back. I have to."</p>
<p>Michael's shoulders were stiff as she worked the console in front of her. Tilly rested a hand gently on Ash's arm. "It's okay, Ash," she said softly. "Really. We're not that far. You did good."</p>
<p>Stamets muttered from behind him something that sounded suitably sardonic. Ash couldn't be bothered to focus on that though. All he could think about was what he was supposed to do, how he wasn't fulfilling the very clear cut instructions the captain had given.</p>
<p>Tilly was making soothing noises as she patted his arm again. "You're fine, Ash. No one thinks you didn't do your job," she insisted. "Just focus on me, okay? There you go. Don't think about the mission. That's over now." Ash wrenched his eyes from Michael to meet Tilly's. She was holding the empty wrappers from the med kit. Dully and then far too overwhelmingly Ash felt something pressing against the wound on his back.</p>
<p>His spine arched and Ash grabbed for Tilly's hand with a death grip. He might have screamed, too. It was getting harder and harder to piece together what was going on.</p>
<p>"It's okay," Tilly's voice echoed in Ash's thoughts. "It's all going to be okay."</p>
<p>He just had to trust her, Ash supposed. Then his head dropped down to the floor of the shuttle pod and Ash Tyler slipped into unconsciousness.</p>
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